Wednesday, June 22, 2016

UT: Register Guns on Monday said the News-Sentinel headline above the fold on Friday, June 17. The problem is, that headline was a lie. The story was related to the recent passage of a campus carry bill by the Tennessee Legislature. The bill as passed, allows full time faculty and staff of public colleges in Tennessee, who have a handgun carry permit, to carry a defensive firearm on campus. There are certain areas that are still gun ban zones, even for those staff. There are other restrictions, including the fact that the handgun must be concealed on campus (This is in contrast with the general permitting process in Tennessee, which recognizes open carry as lawful, also). See the UTPD web pages HERE and HERE.

Desiring to get the straight facts, I emailed Lt. Mike Richardson of the University of Tennessee Police Department. I also wanted the form that UT employees must complete in order to comply: